Elizabeth Calsey House News

Read what's happening at Elizabeth Calsey House

Check out our article in the business spotlight edition of the Newburyport Daily News.

An assisted living community with the comforts of home

It’s morning and the residents
of 15 Elizabeth Street
in Amesbury awaken and
make their ways to the dining
room for a home-cooked
breakfast, still dressed in
their pajamas, slippers and
bathrobes.

It’s a typical family scene,
played out each morning
in households everywhere
— including the Elizabeth
Calsey House, an assistedliving
facility in Amesbury.

The 15 residents enjoy
numerous amenities for
an affordable monthly
rent, including homecooked
meals individually
prepared, — for which all
are encouraged to share
personal recipes,— while
getting the special care and
assistance they need.

Owner Deb Dastoli
opened the Elizabeth
Calsey House in 1995,
and was a pioneer in
the assisted living field,
working with the state to
develop regulations for
such facilities. After spending
more than a decade as
a dispatcher at the Salisbury
Fire Department, she
was prompted to enter the
assisted living field after
she and her husband were
forced to enter her fatherin-
law into a nursing home
as caring for him at home
became too difficult.

Designing and building
the homes, Dastoli worked
closely with the architects
to ensure each would
embody a warm and inviting
environment to allow
for aging in place with the
aid of a well-trained staff.
The houses offer porches
for residents to use, as well
as gardens, a full-service
kitchen, and common areas
for group activities.

At its opening, the home
offered eight rooms and
Dastoli did all of the food
shopping, cooking and
resident care by herself.
Over the years, the Dastolis
were able to add onto
the building, while also
opening a second location
on Lions Mouth Road in
Amesbury in 2002. That
location offers 26 bedrooms.
At both homes,
each resident has a private
bathroom.

“The people that live in
this house are certainly a
family,” Dastoli said. “My
philosophy is that it’s the
residents’ home.”

It may also help that the
facilities are operated by a
family. Several of Dastoli’s
relatives, including her
granddaughter and her
two brothers, work at the
homes. She also employs a
nursing student, as well as
several students at Whittier
Vocational Technical High
School who are studying to
become certified nursing
assistants.

Over the years, the
regulations have been more
complex and the paperwork
load is greater, Dastoli
said. “I couldn’t do it all by
myself now,” she said.

The monthly rent for
each resident ranges from
$4,000 to $4,300, depending
on the size of his or
her room, and the care he
or she requires. That rent
includes services for which
other assisted living facilities
will charge additional
fees, Dastoli said, such as
cable television or extra
laundry services or showers.
The Elizabeth Calsey
House does not charge a
community fee.

To learn more about the
Elizabeth Calsey House or
the Elizabeth Calsey House
at Lion’s Mouth Road,
call 978-388-0293.